1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated tightener for a wet mateable connection assembly for electrical and/or optical cables.
In particular the present invention especially refers to an automated tightener for a wet mateable connection assembly for undersea application.
In particular, the present invention refers to a wet mateable connection assembly for medium and high voltage electrical cables. Typically, by medium voltage cables we mean cables suitable for more than 1 kV and up to about 30 KV, and for high voltage cables we mean cables suitable for operating above about 30 kV.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of oceanic/undersea energy generation the technologies used to generate energy are dominantly “wind mills”, but wave, tidal and photovoltaic generators are also important.
The wind mills are generally arranged in arrays and built with bottom structures fixed on the seabed; inter array underwater cables are used to go from one wind mill to the next in the array.
In order to connect the wind mills or similar apparatus to an electric network, cables may be used, wherein the cable connections are “dry mate”, i.e. the ends of the cables coming from the wind mills and of the cables of the electric network or of intermediate stations are connected together (i.e. are mated, or unmated, by means of appropriate connectors) in a dry environment, to avoid the presence of water at the connector interface, which may produce partial discharges and the consequent cable faults in the presence of electrical field.
Cable hubs and/or cable substations can be used for connecting two or more underwater cables of an electric network. In these cases, and especially in places where water depth exceeds 40 m, the dry mating is more cumbersome because it implies retrieving from underwater, for example to a ship, a sunken hub or substation having a significant weight.
The dry mating is often unpractical and generally economically disadvantageous.
In offshore windmills and other submarine applications, wet mateable connection assemblies are used.
A wet mateable connection assembly is configured to allow the cable connection directly undersea; it typically comprises a first and a second case mateable to each other in a watertight manner along a longitudinal connecting axis.
Once the alignment and coupling between cases has been obtained, the cases should be fixed one another to realize a watertight connection. A fixing system comprising, for example, bolts or clamps is provided and tightened.
The step of tightening the fixing system cannot be always performed manually. For instance, it is not possible for an operator to work for the due time below a certain sea depth or in certain environmental conditions.